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With Standard in a blur to reshape the metagame post-Clamp, the common notion is that anything aggro is a dead archetype, despite the players with Goblin Bidding and Ravager Affinity decks trying to repair some of the damage dealt to their decks this past weekend. Control looks to be a healthy choice once more, now that two decks are without their most cataclysmic catalysts, and one newer deck pronounced dead in the water (I’m looking at you, KCI). Big Red has been on most players minds as the control deck to beat, while others are rethinking White/Blue and Green/White control decks that have been collecting dust.

However, I would like to discuss the deck that almost everyone had their eyes on when Mirrodin first showed up: Mono-Black Control. However, Broodstar

Affinity and Goblin Bidding would have their say, and that mixed with the deck’s speed and lackluster construction (especially with most of the builds of MBC being constructed out of Mirrodin cards alone), MBC disappeared as quickly as it debuted.

), additional card drawing (Night’s Whisper), and even some mana acceleration (Wayfarer’s Bauble) has more than aided the speed and potency of the deck. MBC was granted another man-land as well, and an old favorite from blue control decks in the past shows its face. I suppose a card-by-card breakdown is best at this point:

: Four of these were the flavor of the week in Mirrodin-only MBC. Now with a multitude of spells that could better make use of the six-mana allocation the Stones used to preside over, these can be considered 3/3 emergency beaters/blockers. I still approve of running them in general, but the number simply can’t stay at four if the Nexii, the superior of the two, are to stay.

: It’s been said that the newer artifacts have a bit of “color flavor”, or a sense of what color decks they belong in. It’s my belief that these guys are a boon to black, with ten card-drawing abilities (Solemn Simulacrum

: Absolutely freakin’ insane against control decks. Doubles as a hamperance against aggro decks having a slow-to-medium pace start. Triples as card advantage with a Solemn or two on the table to sacrifice. Considering fifth turn your Beacons come online as well, you now have four targets from this card alone just waiting to do your bidding. The card was potent in the old days, and is just as much so now. Also consider the following: Tooth and Nail

: Players have been singing the praises of this card since it saw print in Darksteel, but no one really used it other than Cemetery and Clerics (obviously not Tier 1, and therefore not the best defense for the card itself). It does all sorts of mean things to decks with low counts of anything affected by the card: low land count (aggro)? Wreck. Meager card advantage? Wreck. Minimal creatures? Wreck. Plus, a DC for three is an insulting win condition (hi Dan!).

that hits three turns earlier. Black has been well-acquainted with the principles of life -> cards, and while in color wheel terminology it’s supposed to be second-best at card drawing, I’m not sure if Standard’s pool of blue card draw is supposed to be impressing anyone. U2VydW0gVisions

was initially misfit into Mirrodin block because of its second out – “unless he or she discards an artifact card from his or her hand.” The amount of times the card read “BB: Target player discards an artifact.” was offensive enough for people to declare this card garbage; however, if you’re an aspiring MBC player, go toe-to-toe with Big Red or White/Green Control. Against decks that run low numbers of artifacts (this card is the equivalent of delivering Tooth and Nail

a blood clot near their upper aorta 90% of the time), this is the Standard discard spell all others should be measured against.

The deck in testing has so far yielded excellent results. Given things go to plan, which is true of any deck out there, this deck is amazingly fast and stable. The only match up I can say it absolutely loses to is Raffinity, though I have yet to design a sideboard that has solutions to the deck, simply because I don’t believe it will be present all that much longer. However, in a few months I’m moving over to Orlando, where almost everything Magic happens in Florida, so I should have a more stable metagame (to give you perspective on my local metagame, I see five rouge decks weekly at my weekend tournaments). Perhaps if this article’s well received, I can give some numerical estimates against the gamut in a follow-up.

As far as I see it, Mono Black could very well make a stand in the portended control-dominated environment. It boasts both the greatest speed (barring Cloudpost

insanity), quickest recovery times from board clearance or disruption, and heck, it even beats Ponza. If you’ve got the cards from your old MBC sitting in a binder, or if you can plunder someone else’s binder for the pieces you’ll need, give Mono Black Control a try. At the very least, you can’t complain about a stagnant metagame anymore.

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